1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to means for and methods of expanding at the point of sale of a soft bag, back-pack, or the like for display. More particularly, this invention relates to an apparatus which either automatically or manually expands a bag to give an impression that the bag is filled.
2. Background of the Invention
For convenience of expression in this application, the term "soft bags" is used to describe all suitable devices, such as suitcases, tote bags, sports bags, back-packs, barrel bags and the like, of all sizes and types.
These soft bags are presently manufactured throughout the world and transported from the manufacturer to the destination of sale in a flatly packed or nested state so as to take up minimal shipping space because the costs involved in shipping stuffed bags are prohibitive. Freight charges from the point of manufacture to the destination of the bags are usually based on the amount of space that the bags occupy. For example, twelve back-packs nested and shipped flat occupy the same amount of space (approximately one cubic foot) that is occupied by one stuffed back-pack. Since most retailers prefer to display these soft bags in an expanded condition, a retailer often arranges for the bags to be stuffed and repacked at a stuffing facility located near the final destination or in some instances at the point of sale. The bags are removed from their original shipping cartons at the stuffing facility where the stuffing is done manually with such materials as crumpled paper, stiff cardboard pieces or inflated vinyl shapes. The original shipping cartons are then disposed of and replaced by larger cartons that will hold the fully stuffed bags.
Stuffing soft bags takes time, space, and additional personnel, which increases costs, causes inconvenience and sometimes delays delivery of the product to the point of sale. Additionally, the original shipping cartons are not reusable or recyclable and, therefore, must be discarded, often requiring cartage companies, which charge a fee for waste removal and disposal at dump sites. Moreover, additional costs for the new larger cartons and additional freight charges are incurred for shipping the new cartons containing the stuffed bags to the retailer after the stuffing process is completed.
The retailer may confront storage problems since the stuffed bags take up much more space than unstuffed bags. Accordingly, the retailer may be inclined to order limited quantities of soft bags because of storage restrictions for fully expanded bags. Thus, there is a risk of a rapidly depleting inventory so that the retailer may be unable to reorder in time to fill the demand.
As a result of the problems associated with manually stuffed bags, some retailers have opted to display their bags while they are still flat and to include a picture of the bag as it appears when it is expanded. This method, however, is also costly and precludes the consumer from viewing the actual expanded bag.
Other retailers have contemplated having bags stuffed at the manufacturing point, but this is uneconomical because it requires more shipping space so that less bags can be shipped per container causing greatly increased shipping costs. Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an insertable apparatus that permits a bag to be retained in a flattened state until expansion is desired and then allows the bag to be easily and quickly expanded by the retailer when the retailer desires to display the bag.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insertable apparatus that is placed in the bag by the manufacturer or at the place of manufacture and is thereby more efficient and cost-effective since it allows the bag to be sent directly to the retailer, rather than to a stuffing facility, thus reducing delays in delivery time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insertable apparatus that requires minimum amount of material to manufacture and greatly reduces and conserves the usage of paper products or other stuffing materials, as well as the disposal of those materials.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insertable apparatus that is placed in the bag during manufacture and then sent to the retailer in the original shipping container, in order to reduce freight charges and eliminate the need for an additional larger shipping container to house the stuffed bags.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an insertable apparatus which is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which may be imprinted with advertising or other information directed to purchasers of the bag.
Additional objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description and the drawings.